Ask the Room
by CinnamonDragon
Summary: One-shots involving various Potterverse characters and the Room of Requirement. A little bit of humour, a little bit of drama. / 2. A Present for Lily
1. Neville's Night Adventure

**A/N: I got this funny idea yesterday and well, here's the result. ****I hope you'll like it. Enjoy and review! Suggestions about other characters who could appear in this are always welcome ;) **

1. Neville's Night Adventure

_I need a place to sleep. _

Neville Longbottom had once again forgotten the password to the Gryffindor common room. His memory was generally better than when he was a first-year, but such things still happened. And after that incident with Sirius Black two years previously he knew better than to write any passwords down. And so he was stranded in the corridor in the middle of the night (he had sneaked into one of the greenhouses earlier that evening and just lost track of time) and he had nowhere to sleep. Unless…

It was not far from the Gryffindor Tower to the Room of Requirement and he fortunately didn't meet any teacher (or Peeves) on the way. He walked past the stretch of blank wall three times and opened the door that appeared out of thin air. The Room turned into a small but cosy bedroom with a big double bed standing in the middle. The sheets were white and soft like marshmallows and there was a pair of blue pyjamas lying neatly folded on the pillow. Neville quickly put them on and slipped under the covers. The bed was unbelievably comfortable and he was beginning to feel glad that he had forgot the password.

He was already half-asleep when he heard the door creak and open. He lunged madly for his wand which was still in the pocket of his robes. He blinked several times and then strained his eyes to see who (or what) was coming. The room was dark but there was a little light coming from the corridor through the open door and he could just make out a person in a short yellow nightgown and fluffy slippers. Her blonde hair was falling on her shoulders in a messy way and her eyes seemed to be closed. Luna.

She closed the door slowly behind her and came up to the other side of the bed. Before Neville could react, she slipped in beside him and went to sleep (or continued sleeping, he wasn't sure). He smelt a faint scent of lavender…

Neville was at a loss what to do. It was such an unexpected turn of events that he couldn't even think straight. But after a couple of minutes his head cleared a little. Well, he couldn't stay there, that was sure. He would have to sleep in the corridor after all.

He took his clothes (he couldn't risk changing when she could wake up any minute) and made his way out of the Room as quietly as he could. When the door closed behind him he heaved a sigh of relief and immediately after that a sigh of pity. That bed was _really_ comfy…

"Mr Longbottom," came a shrill voice from behind him and he jumped up in surprise, "what do you think you're doing out of bed in the middle of the night? Thousand points from Gryffindor!"

"No, Professor, please!" he answered in horror, turning around to face her. But the corridor was empty. He frowned and looked around carefully but he was definitely alone. That is, until Ron Weasley's red head appeared floating in mid-air.

"Ha ha, gotcha, Neville!" he laughed. "You should have seen your face!"

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I have a better question." Harry Potter's head appeared beside Ron's. "What are _you_ doing here?"

They both looked at him curiously and he realized he was standing there wearing pyjamas and that his clothes were bundled in his arms. He flushed a little and tried to think of a good explanation but at that moment they heard a door creak open. Luna came out of the Room and sleepwalked right past them humming a happy tune. Harry and Ron were speechless for a minute and just gaped at Neville and at Luna's retreating back. The Cloak slipped to the floor revealing Hermione who looked as dumbstruck as the other two.

"What– Why– Neville?" She looked at him in amazement.

"Merlin's pants!" Ron finally found his voice. "I didn't know that you and Luna were– Wow, mate, it's just…"

"It's not what you're thinking," Neville protested feebly but he could feel his face was getting tomato red which definitely wasn't helping.

"Hey, I'm sure there is some other, innocent explanation besides the obvious one," Harry joked, though he still looked a little shaken.

Neville felt anger rising inside him. He was tired and he just wanted to go back to sleep. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"You know what? You can think what you want. But it was a coincidence. You can ask Luna tomorrow. Nothing happened. I didn't even know she would come here. Now tell me the password to our common room, will you?"

"_Carpe diem_, Neville. The password's _carpe diem_," said Ron smirking and the three of them vanished beneath the Cloak.

It wasn't the first time Neville wished he knew how to cast the Obliviate spell.


	2. A Present for Lily

**A/N: That's what happens when I let my imagination run wild. Let me know if it's good, bad or some****where in between ;)**

2. A Present for Lily

_I need to find a present for Lily._

When a black door with a golden handle appeared out of nowhere, Severus jumped back in surprise. He had just walked Lily to the Gryffindor Tower and was now making his way back to the dungeons. When he turned into the corridor with the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the trolls in tutus reminded him in some weird way that Lily's birthday was in three days. And there was not much time left to buy her something.

He was so agitated by the fact that he had so little time that he stopped in the middle of the corridor and started pacing back and forth, hoping for some inspiration. And that was when the door appeared.

Severus looked around to check nobody was coming, then took out his wand and cautiously turned the handle. He opened the door a little and peeped inside. He could see a brightly lit room full of wardrobes, chests and shelves. There was a pleasant smell in the air. He opened the door a little wider and took a better look. There seemed to be some glittering things lying on the shelves and he thought he knew what they were. Suddenly he realized he would surely find a perfect present for Lily in this place. But before he could enter the room, he heard the voice of the person he hated as much as he loved Lily. James Potter.

"Hey, Snivellus! What are you up to? Why have you crawled out of your hole down in the dungeons?" He gave an audible sniff. "Oh, now we'll have to ventilate the whole corridor, it stinks in here!"

Potter was obviously in the mood for talking and taunting rather than fighting, otherwise he would have already hexed Severus, preferably from behind. But maybe he didn't bother showing off his skills because his mates – and Lily – were not around. Still, he was so concentrated on sneering at Severus that it took him a while to realize that they were standing near a door that have never been there before. And then curiosity made him forget about Snape and everything else. He just whipped out his wand and dived into the room.

So much for caution, thought Severus wryly. It was his chance to leave relatively unscathed from the encounter but he was determined to find that present and was afraid he would not be able to get back into that room. So he took a deep breath and followed Potter inside.

He was right. Glittering things lying on the shelves were jewellery: gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, brooches, earrings, and rings encrusted with gems of all sizes and colours. On another set of shelves he found richly decorated bottles of perfumes and porcelain figurines. Potter had already opened some wardrobes and chests and Severus could see there were beautiful Chinese porcelain dinner sets, shawls made of pure silk and many other things that he couldn't name or even properly describe. But they were all exquisite and even he could appreciate their value.

"Wow, this place is awesome!" Potter muttered to himself, obviously forgetting that Severus could hear him. "I'm sure I'll find something for Lily here."

Severus froze. That was not good. That was _so _not good.

"Hey, I found this place! Go and find _your_ present for Lily somewhere else!"

Mentioning Lily Evans in James Potter's presence was always a bad idea. Especially for Severus, who usually got hexed. But letting him know that he was trying to find a present for Lily was a death warrant. Severus realized it too late…

But Potter didn't curse him into oblivion. He was so mesmerised by the beautiful things around him and so intent on finding the perfect gift for Lily that he just wanted peace and quiet to look for it.

"There are so many things here, I'm sure we'll both find something," he said, not even looking at Severus. Snape's jaw dropped. Did James Potter just allow him to look for a present for Lily? Shouldn't he have flown into jealous rage by now?

He was still jealous of his discovery and didn't want to share it with anyone (especially James Potter) but there was nothing he could do to stop him and so he started looking around for the perfect gift, too.

A couple of minutes passed and then he saw it. It was an emerald shawl that would go really well with Lily's eyes. He grabbed one end… and realized Potter was holding the other one.

"Hey!" they cried angrily at the same time.

"Back off, Snivellus!"

"You back off, Potter! I was first, I found this place, it's mine!"

"Oh, really? _Tarantallegra_!"

"_Furnunculus_!"

They both missed but suddenly all the lights went off.

"What did you do, Snape?"

"Nothing!"

The lights came back on unexpectedly and Severus found himself face to face with a ghost. A ghost of a young girl.

"Who are you?" Potter asked, trying to appear unconcerned by her sudden appearance.

"I'm Shamira, the guardian of this place," she answered solemnly.

"Okay…"

"I guard it because all of these things belong to me," she explained coldly.

"Oh."

"That means you have to ask my permission if you want to take anything."

"Okay, so, can I take this shawl?" Potter didn't waste any time.

"No."

"What? Why?"

Shamira shook her head sadly.

"Don't shower this girl with expensive presents or she'll end up just like me. The more things I got, the more I wanted and I stopped caring for anything else."

Severus bit his lip worriedly. He didn't want this to happen to Lily. Potter seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"So what am I supposed to get her for her birthday?" he asked with desperation.

"Just show her that you care. Give her a present that you made yourself or one that means something to both of you, reminds you of something you saw or did together. It doesn't have to be much, it just has to be meaningful. Anyone can give her a shawl."

When Potter didn't look entirely convinced, she added, "Trust me. I would know."


End file.
